Alan Cheusehttp://wuot.org
enBook Review: 'The Sacrifice' By Joyce Carol Oateshttp://wuot.org/post/book-review-sacrifice-joyce-carol-oates
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Book+Review%3A+%27The+Sacrifice%27+By+Joyce+Carol+Oates&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDA3NzMxMTkxMDEzMDkyOTU3ODRmYjc2Mg001)"/></div><p>Transcript <p>ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: <p>Joyce Carol Oates fictionalizes the case of a 1980s rape hoax in her new novel. In the real-life case, a young black woman named Tawana Brawley said she was brutally raped and kidnapped by a group of white men in New York State.Fri, 26 Dec 2014 21:26:00 +0000Alan Cheuse28037 at http://wuot.orgBook Review: 'A Map Of Betrayal'http://wuot.org/post/book-review-map-betrayal
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Book+Review%3A+%27A+Map+Of+Betrayal%27&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDA0NjU0OTYzMDEyNjQwMTMxMDAxMDc1ZA004)"/></div><p>Transcript <p>AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: <p>Most spy thrillers are about coldhearted people betraying one nation for another. But a new novel from Ha Jin was inspired by spy who, when he was caught, insisted he was looking out for two countries.Tue, 02 Dec 2014 21:18:00 +0000Alan Cheuse27056 at http://wuot.org'Lila' Sets The Stage For Marilynn Robinson's Earlier Workshttp://wuot.org/post/lila-sets-stage-marilynn-robinsons-earlier-works
<div class="fullattribution">Copyright 2014 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.<img src="http://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=%27Lila%27+Sets+The+Stage+For+Marilynn+Robinson%27s+Earlier+Works&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDA4NjIwNTkwMDEzMjI4NDY0MjY4ZTBlNA004)"/></div><p>Mon, 20 Oct 2014 20:44:00 +0000Alan Cheuse25373 at http://wuot.orgMartin Amis' 'Zone Of Interest' Is An Electrically Powerful Holocaust Novelhttp://wuot.org/post/martin-amis-zone-interest-electrically-powerful-holocaust-novel
When I picked up Martin Amis' new novel, <em>The </em><em>Zone of Interest,</em> it felt as though I had touched a third rail, so powerful and electric is the experience of reading it.Wed, 17 Sep 2014 22:03:00 +0000Alan Cheuse24232 at http://wuot.orgBook Review: 'Angels Make Their Hope Here'http://wuot.org/post/book-review-angels-make-their-hope-here
Transcript <p>AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: <p>From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDRED. I'm Audie Cornish.<p>ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: <p>And I'm Robert Siegel. Now to 19th-century New Jersey and a new novel. It set among unusually tolerant people. A racially mixed community that offers refuge to independent souls. Alan Cheuse has this review of the novel "Angels Make Their Hope Here" by Breena Clarke.<p>ALAN CHEUSE, BYLINE: Clarke calls her Jersey Shangri-La, Russell’s Knob. Where a black community elder named Duncan Smoot heads a couple of families.Tue, 22 Jul 2014 21:47:00 +0000Alan Cheuse21823 at http://wuot.orgMcMurtry Takes Aim At A Legend In 'Last Kind Words Saloon'http://wuot.org/post/mcmurtry-takes-aim-legend-last-kind-words-saloon
In a prefatory note to <em>The Last Kind Words Saloon</em>, his first novel in five years, Western writer supreme Larry McMurtry states that he wants to create a "ballad in prose." And he borrows a line from great moviemaker John Ford: "When legend becomes fact, print the legend."<p>Set in the autumn of the 19th century, mainly in Texas, Colorado, and Arizona, McMurtry's slender book contains a multitude of familiar and unfamiliar Western characters, including some who do belong to legend as well as history: part-time lawman Wyatt Earp and gun-toting dentist Doc Holliday, back together again.Tue, 27 May 2014 21:05:00 +0000Alan Cheuse19246 at http://wuot.orgWritten In Secret Behind The Iron Curtain, 'Corpse' Is Revivedhttp://wuot.org/post/written-secret-behind-iron-curtain-corpse-revived
Transcript <p>ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: <p>The fiction work of Soviet era writer Zigizmund Krzhizhanovsky never saw the light of day in his own time. He was known mostly as a theater, music and literally critic, but he also wrote fables and fiction for more than 20 years, none of which appeared in print until 1989. Well, a new volume of that work called "Autobiography of a Corpse" has just come out here in the U.S.Wed, 25 Dec 2013 22:27:00 +0000Alan Cheuse12737 at http://wuot.orgA Coming Of Age Story For The (Ice) Ageshttp://wuot.org/post/coming-age-story-ice-ages
Transcript <p>MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: <p>From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Melissa Block.<p>ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: <p>And I'm Robert Siegel. A new novel explores life on Earth tens of thousands of years ago. It's called "Shaman" by science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson. Our reviewer, Alan Cheuse, says it's worthy of a spot on the bookshelf between "The Inheritors" and "The Clan Of The Cave Bear."<p>ALAN CHEUSE, BYLINE: Robinson has chosen a broad and effective means for including everything that he knows and everything he imagines about the world of 30,000 B.C.Wed, 09 Oct 2013 21:37:00 +0000Alan Cheuse9437 at http://wuot.orgBook Review: 'Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish'http://wuot.org/post/book-review-love-dishonor-marry-die-cherish-perish
Transcript <p>MELISSA BLOCK, HOST: <p>The writer and humorist David Rakoff died last year at the age of 47 of cancer. He left behind his final work: a brief novel in verse with the long title "Love, Dishonor, Marry, Die, Cherish, Perish." It was published today, and Alan Cheuse has this review.<p>ALAN CHEUSE, BYLINE: This short but abundantly populated novel in verse had quite an effect on me. It's all I can do to write a novel in prose, but a novel in rhyming couplets with a story that keeps my attention and exudes beauty and the suffering attendant upon a human predicament?Wed, 17 Jul 2013 00:00:00 +0000Alan Cheuse5442 at http://wuot.orgBook Review: 'Skinner'http://wuot.org/post/book-review-skinner
Transcript <p>ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: <p>From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Robert Siegel.<p>AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: <p>And I'm Audie Cornish.<p>Charlie Huston is a Los Angeles-based writer known for his superhero comic books and crime novels. Alan Cheuse couldn't wait to get his hands on Huston's latest thriller called "Skinner." Here's his review.<p>ALAN CHEUSE, BYLINE: Charlie Huston's 2010 novel "Sleepless" bowled me over. What a powerful combination of combustible plot and fiery language. So here's his new novel in my hands. It's called "Skinner," and it's a huge letdown.Mon, 08 Jul 2013 20:15:00 +0000Alan Cheuse5007 at http://wuot.org